Today's impressive Vegas hotel fire raises an interesting question: is the building facade really made of foam covered with stucco? Because that's the lamest thing I've ever heard. A new low point for architecture.

Things here in Boston are slowly getting restored to their proper order. El Pelon is close to reopening after their early December fire. I've never been more eager for a burrito. Toscanini's ice cream reopened tonight after spending a week in the possession of the Department of Revenue. Owner Gus Rancatore was on hand. I thanked him for turning things around. He thanked us for buying ice cream, adding that we don't know how much it means to him to see people back in the store. He's a great guy.

Some other dude behind the counter at Tosci's was trying to convince me that Radiodread, a note-for-note reggae remake of OK Computer was the greatest thing ever. He rummaged around for the CD and played it over the store PA for us. It's... something. I'm listening to the album on Rhapsody as I write. I always have the same reaction to Radiohead covers, which is that they only prove how good Radiohead is.

I try to listen to a few new albums every month to justify the cost of my paid Rhapsody subscription, so if you think there's something I should be listening to instead, pipe up. "Exit Music (For a Dub)" is not very good.

In spite of the cold weather, old college friends are crawling out of the woodwork left and right. I saw errhode last weekend. Yesterday I was hanging out with malvira and tbarton when woz showed up. Tonight I met up with ekshea and randomly ran into a just-married jvb. Let's hope this kind of thing keeps up.

I saw another headline today that looked something like: "MPAA Admits Mistake on Cost of Campus Piracy."

Let's all agree on one thing: piracy is what happens when you take over a ship at sea. Perhaps at swordpoint. That is the only definition.

So the phrase "campus piracy" is really kind of amusing.

Is it really 2008? Geez.

People, there is a problem here in Boston. That involves ice cream. You see, whenever it gets cold outside, I get this unavoidable craving for a huge helping of ice cream. Always after dinner, usually around 10 PM. Now, for whatever reason, these are the same nights that all the local ice cream shops (which are open until "midnight") decide to close early.

It happened again tonight, where I spent 15 minutes walking to J.P. Licks (over an hour before closing) only to see the lights dimmed and employees taking out the trash.

This practice needs to stop.

Some people think it's weird to eat so much ice cream in the winter. I don't understand their argument. Ice cream tastes best when it is cold, making winter a logical time to enjoy it. Also, this is the only time of the year when one can walk around holding ice cream without any worries about melting, making it rather convenient. On the coldest days, I can put a frappe (milkshake) in my backpack, bike somewhere, and enjoy it. Sublime.